In a conventional disc brake system, a pair of brake elements with friction members is slidably mounted on a caliper to forcibly press against a rotor to effect braking and slow the vehicle. Because the caliper moves the friction members into contact with the rotor surfaces, one or more mounting clips are installed between the brake elements and an interior of the caliper in order to reduce the sliding resistance.
The disc brake systems are typically shipped with the brake elements and the mounting clips already installed in the caliper. Accordingly, a disc brake system customer simply installs the disc brake system onto the vehicle. It will be appreciated that in shipping, the rotor is absent from the brake system. Because the rotor is absent, the brake elements are able to move within the brake caliper to a greater degree than if the rotor were present. It will also be appreciated that brake elements are commonly referred to as brake pads or disc brakes and may be referred to as such.
The area in which the rotor would have occupied adjacent to the caliper is known as a rotor gap or a rotor clearance gap. The brake elements, otherwise not restrained by the presence of the rotor, may fall into the rotor gap during shipping of the brake system. If the brake elements fall into the rotor gap, re-installation becomes necessary. In a large volume assembly process, it may be possible that the brake elements could be installed improperly, such that the friction members, for example, do not properly face the rotor.
A plastic “T” or a sponge spacer is placed in the caliper to prevent the brake pads from falling into the rotor gap. The brake pads can nevertheless fall into the rotor gap when the plastic “T” or the sponge spacer is removed during installation of the brake caliper. The difficulty in keeping the brake pads installed and positioned properly in the caliper during shipping and installation may cause increases in parts count, assembly costs and installation time. Moreover, attempts to re-install the brake pads, once they have moved from the proper position, may result in an improper re-installation of the brake pads.